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Shortly before 1976, many copyrighted literary works, movies, and fictional characters were due to pass into the public domain, since their original 56-year copyright terms were running out. Some of these copyrighted items remained profitable for the rights holders, including several characters owned by the Walt Disney Company. The potential loss of Mickey Mouse, in particular, was a significant concern for Disney. However, with the passage of the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright terms were extended to 75 years. This delayed Disney's loss of early films featuring Mickey Mouse (such as Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy) until approx. 2000.

As 2000 approached, Disney and other corporations successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress for another copyright extension. In 1998, Congress passed a new law that gave the companies involved what they'd requested. The law is known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (or CTEA).

Editor's note: Some people believe that lobbied, in this context, means purchased. It appears that one or more of the corporations involved may have paid members of Congress to ensure that CTEA would pass. The amount of money involved was surprisingly small, considering the value of the purchase. The total dollar amount may have been as low as $250,000.

CTEA extended copyright terms in the United States significantly (for the second time in less than 25 years). Under the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years, or 75 years for a work of corporate authorship. The 1998 law extended these terms to life of the author plus 70 years and 95 years, respectively.

The act also affected copyright terms for copyrighted works published prior to January 1, 1978, increasing their term of protection by 20 years as well. This effectively "froze" the advancement date of the public domain in the United States for works covered by the older fixed-term copyright rules. Under this act, additional works made in 1923 or afterwards that were still copyrighted in 1998 will not enter the public domain until 2019, unless the owner of the copyright releases them into the public domain prior to that.

Unlike copyright extension legislation in the European Union, the Sonny Bono Act did not revive copyrights that had already expired. The act did extend the terms of protection set for works that were already copyrighted, and is retroactive in that sense. However, works created before January 1, 1978 but not published or registered for copyright until recently are addressed in a special section (17 U.S.C. § 303) and may remain protected until 2047. The act became Public Law 105-298 on October 27, 1998.

Interesting anecdote:

There's an anecdote that may help to illustrate where the corporations involved stand on copyright vs. the public domain. California congresswoman Mary Bono (Sonny Bono's widow and Congressional successor) was a strong supporter of CTEA. In a speech on the issue, she made the following statement:

Actually, Sonny wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever. I am informed by staff that such a change would violate the Constitution... As you know, there is also [Motion Picture Association of America president] Jack Valenti's proposal for the term to last forever less one day. Perhaps the Committee may look at that next Congress.